Wood-veneering.



A. MGILWRATHK WOOD VENEERING.

APPLIGATION FILED Nov. 11, 1912A www@ " erariale anu our ANDREWMUILWRATH, OF- CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, SSIGNOR TO FLOOD @a CONKLIN CO., 0FNEWARK, JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

WooD-vnNEERINe.

Application -led November 1'1, 1912. Serial N o. 730,599.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ANDREW MCILWRATH, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Wood-Veneering, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the veneering of' 4Wood and particularly to thetreating and building up of veneered Wood in such manner that apermanent and satisfactory finish may be given thereto, which Will no-tbe sub-` ject to checking, peeling, shrinking in, or other action havingthe tendency or effect of preventing the satisfactory application of aproper finish or of marring or destroying the finish after itscompletion.

For numerous reasons, including the scarcity and expensiveness of Woodssuitable for forming the exterior surfaces of pianos, the better classof furniture Vand the like products of wood, veneers are made eX-tremely thin, the customary practice With many kinds of wood being tomake veneers thereof as thin as three to four one-hundredths of an inchin thickness. In all thin veneers there are very numerous smallopenings, many of which are large enough t-o permit the passage of lightand to be readily visible to the naked eye when held up before a sourceof light. By reason of the numerous openings in the thin veneer and thepressure used in gluing the veneer to its backing, glue when applieddirectly to the veneer orbacking penetrates through the veneer andappears over practically the entire area of the veneer upon its outersurface or face so that the surface thus formed is made up very largelyof the glue used. for securing. the veneer t0 the backing piece. Whenfinishing materials such as stains, fillers, lacquers, .varnishes andthe like are appliedv to this Wood-glue surface, it is impossible toobtain a permanent and satisfactory finish, for, by reason of thepresence of glue on the surface Where it comes into contact with thefinishing materials, the

finished 'surface is subject to the effects of'.l

moisture, changes of temperature and similar causes, and checking,peeling, shrinking in, and other harmful actions manifest themselves andprevent the ebtaining and maintaining ofthe necessary hi h finish.

According to my invention t e veneer 1s subjected to treatment, prior tothe gluing operation, with a material of kindred nature to the finishesultimately to be applied to the veneered Wood and Which Willpenetrateand partially or Wholly fill the pores and openings in theveneer so as to prevent the glue `from penetrating and coming throughthe finishing materials are applied to the Wood-` glue surfacesheretofore formed. I preferably make use fo-r treating the veneer forthis purpose of a gum solution such asa solution of refined shellac,sandarac, damar, mastic or fossil gums, all of Which may be used eitherih combination or separately, and

.Which have the capacity of excluding the glue from the pores andopenings in the veneer and are capable of taking and holding a. highfinish. The veneer may `be treated with such materials on one or bothsides andits treatment with said materials may be car ried out in anymanner which will secure the result of filling the pores and openings inthe veneer with the material sufiiciently to prevent the lue frorncoming through the veneer, as, 'or example, the gum solution mayPatented Apr. ist, 19ML.

be a'pplied to the veneer by means of a brush, f

or by a'roll or rolls, or the veneer may be dipped into a bath of thematerial or other methods of treatment may be resorted to for thispurpose. After such treatment, the veneer which has been treated isthoroughly dried and is preferably subjected to pressure during thedrying process so as to prevent distortion and malformation, and theveneer so treated and having the pores and openings therein sufficientlyfilled with a hardened gum solution to prevent the glue from goingthrough to the surface of the veneer is glued vto its backing in theordinary manner. The

glue, however, after the veneer has been treated in the mannerdescribed, does not penetrate thro-ugh the veneer but is confined to itslegitimate function of securing the veneer to its backing, and after thegluing process is completed, the outer surface or face of the compositepiece so formed is substantially free from glue and is made up of the'veneer wood and of the hardened gum solution, and it comprises, so tospeak, a wood-gum surface, instead of a wood-glue surface as when theglue is' applied'to the bare veneer. This su-rface partakes very largelyof the characteristics of the hardened gum solution with which theveneer has been treated and the surface so formed is not affected bymoisture or by considerable changes in temperature. I have found that'the stains, fillers, lacquers, Varnishes and the like used forfinishing purposes being of a kindred character to the gum solutionadhere very strongly to this surface and that after the surface has beennished by the application thereof there is no manifestation of thepeeling, shrinking in, checking or other troublesome defects to whichfinishes applied on ordinary veneered wood are sub- `ect.

J When the gum solution is applied only to the back of the veneer, asmay be done ifl desired, the amount of the hardened gum solutionappearing on the outer surface will be very muchless than if the veneeris dipped into the solution or otherwise treat ed on both surfaces, butin any case the glue is excluded from the outer surface where it wouldcome into contact with the materials used in finishing when they areapplied in the liquid state and the harmful results due to such contactare prevented.

`With the foregoing and related objects in view, my invention consistsof the parts, improvements, combinations and processes herein set forthand claimed. I While I illustrate and describe particular embodiments ofmy invention, it is to be understood that my invention is not limitedthereto but is as broad as my claims.

In the drawings forming part of' this specification, the single, figurerepresents in cross section a built up'piece of wood in accordance withthe invention.

In the said drawing reference numeral 1 is applied to the backing pieceor core which may be of any kind of inexpensive wood usually made use offor that purpose; 2 represents a section ofv cross-grained wood securedthereto by means of the glue 8 and having the grain at right angles tothe backing piece or core 1, and which is customarily interposed betweenthe backing piece and the surface veneer, but it is not essential forthepractice of my invention and may be dispensed with if desired.

Reference numeral 4 represents the surface veneer and 5 the materialwith which the pores and openings in the veneer 4 are filled, and 6represents the glue which is used for securing the veneer 4 1n place. v

`As the backing piece or core 1 andthe cross-grained piece 2 are nottreated to prevent the penetration thereof by, the glue, it penetratestherein to a considerable depth, while its penetration into the veneer4, which has previously been treated with the gum solution is relativelyinconsiderable.

The manner of treating the veneer and of securing it in place u on thebackingis in all respects as hereto ore described, t e veneer 4 beingfirst treated with gum solution 5, then dried and glued in place, thematerial 5 acting to prevent the glue 6 from penetrating to the outerlsurface of the veneer where it would come into contact with thematerials used in finishing, and the glue 6 being confined to its properfunction of securing the veneer in place on its backing, and beinsubstantially excluded from the outer sur ace 7 of the veneer 4, so thatthe finishing materials/may be applied to a sur- 'face free from glue,and already having a surface made up at least in part of materials towhich the finishing materials will readily and permanently adhere.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. That improvement in the art of wood veneering which consists intreating the veneer with a gum solution and causing the material toharden so as to substantially exclude lglue from the pores thereof, andgluing the veneer so treated to the backing, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination, a backing of wood, a veneer having a hardened gumsolution in the.A pores and openings therein and being 'secured tothe-backing by means of glue, the

glue being excluded from the outer surface of the veneer by reason ofthe presence of the hardened gum solution, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination, a backing piece, a section of wood glued thereto andhaving its grain crossing that of the l ackin piece, and a veneer havingits grain paralle to that of the backing piece, and glued to thecrossgrained section and having a gum solution in the pores and openingstherein, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name hereto in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses this 8th day of November, 1912.

ANDREW MCILWRATH."

